Huskers Head to Iowa for NCAA Regionals

#12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (23-4, 7-2 Big Ten)
at NCAA Iowa City Regional

Saturday, April 2, 4 p.m. (CT) – Iowa City, Iowa (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)
Internet: Hawkeyesports.com
Live Stats: Hawkeyesports.com

Huskers Head to Iowa for NCAA Regionals
The 12th-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team heads to Iowa City, Iowa, this Saturday for the NCAA Iowa City Regional. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. (CT) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Cornhuskers, hosts Iowa, top-ranked Oklahoma, No. 13 Arkansas, Kent State and Central Michigan will compete with the top two finishers moving on to the NCAA Championships, which are set to take place April 15-16 in Fort Worth, Texas. Also competing in Iowa City are three all-around competitors and eight individual event specialists who are not on one of the six teams competing.

The Huskers (23-4, 7-2 Big Ten) enter NCAA competition after finishing second at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago in Lincoln with a score of 196.600. NU, which finished behind Michigan’s 197.125, tied season highs on vault and uneven bars, with scores of 49.275 and 49.475, respectively, at the Big Ten Championships. Following Saturday’s performance, Nebraska’s Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) is up to 196.635.

“I’m proud of the effort and I think that’s going to serve us well moving forward into regionals,” Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig said. “We really have done well this season in all four events and we’ve just got to put that together, and I think they can do it.”

First-team All-Big Ten performers Hollie Blanske and Grace Williams picked up individual event titles at the Big Ten Championships for the Big Red. Blanske, who was named a NACGC/W regular season second-team All-American in the all-around, scored Nebraska’s highest individual score on any event when she hit a 9.975 on vault, a career high for the senior. Williams shared the balance beam title with a 9.925 routine. Danielle Breen, a second-team All-Big Ten performer, led the Huskers with a career-high 39.500 in the all-around to finish second overall.

Nebraska has won NCAA Regionals five times in program history, including four times during Kendig’s tenure. The last NCAA Regional win for the Big Red came at the 2003 NCAA West Regional in Seattle, Wash., the last of four consecutive NCAA Regional victories.

NU has had 53 individual regional champions in program history, including Blanske, who won the floor exercise with a 9.925 routine at the NCAA Ames Regional in Ames, Iowa, last season. The Huskers finished second at last year’s NCAA Ames Regional with a score of 196.950 to qualify for the NCAA Championships, where they finished eighth.

Kendig believes the short distance between Lincoln and Iowa City and the fact that Nebraska has performed at Carver-Hawkeye Arena once this season could serve the Huskers well.

“I like the fact that it’s a close trip and we’ve been there this year already,” Kendig said, referring to Nebraska’s dual meet with Iowa in Iowa City on Feb. 6. “We’ve been in that arena before and we know what to expect, and I think that’s going to play in our favor.”

NU will begin the meet on balance beam before moving to floor exercise, vault and uneven bars, with byes in the second and fifth rotations. Live scoring will be available for the meet at Hawkeyesports.com. Other NCAA Regional sites include Athens, Ga., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Salt Lake City, Utah, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Minneapolis, Minn.

Notes to Know

Blanske Named Regular Season All-American
Nebraska senior Hollie Blanske was named a 2016 regular season second-team All-American in the all-around by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) earlier this week. Blanske enters NCAA Regional competition with an RQS of 39.420, good for 16th in the nation. The top eight gymnasts on each event and in the all-around receive first-team honors. Gymnasts ranked No. 9-16 receive second-team honors, including all ties. The second-team NACGC/W honor in the all-around is the second for Blanske, as she was named a regular season second-team All-American in the all-around in 2015. Blanske is also a 3-time NCAA All-American. NCAA All-America status can be earned at the NCAA Championships with the top-four in each event earning first-team honors and No. 5-8 earning second-team honors, including all ties.

Huskers Earn All-Big Ten Honors
Nebraska senior Hollie Blanske and sophomore Grace Williams were named first-team All-Big Ten during the week of the Big Ten Championships. Junior Jennie Laeng and sophomore Danielle Breen earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. This is the second-consecutive first-team all-conference honor for Blanske after she was named second-team All-Big Ten in 2014. The award is the first All-Big Ten honor for Williams, Laeng and Breen. Breen was also named Nebraska’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, voted on by the conference’s coaches during the week of the Big Ten Championships.

Six Huskers Earn Academic All-Big Ten Accolades
All six eligible Huskers earned academic All-Big Ten honors this week. To be eligible for academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Seniors Hollie Blanske and Madison McConkey were named academic All-Big Ten for the third consecutive year, while juniors Ashley Lambert and Jennie Laeng captured their second consecutive honor. Sophomores Danielle Breen and Grace Williams earned the award in their first year eligible, while Breen was one of 12 winter honorees across eight sports to maintain a 4.0 cumulative GPA. Nebraska’s women’s gymnastics program now has 174 total academic all-conference selections in its history.

Bars Score Among All-Time Best
Nebraska’s team bars score of 49.475 at the Big Ten Championships tied its season high set on March 6 against Utah State and ranks among the best bars scores in school history. The score is tied for third-highest in a conference championship in program history, tied for fifth-highest in Bob Devaney Sports Center history, and tied for ninth-highest in program history.

Blanske Makes History on Vault
Senior Hollie Blanske won the vault title at the Big Ten Championships with a score of 9.975. The score was a career high for Blanske and gave her four vault titles on the season and seven for her career. The score tied current Associate Head Coach Heather Brink’s 9.975 at 2000 Big 12 Championships for the highest vault score in Nebraska conference championship history. It was Nebraska’s highest individual score on any event this season, and Nebraska’s first score of 9.975 on any event since March 7, 2015, when Jessie DeZiel hit a 9.975 on vault against Oregon State. Blanske was also a Big Ten event champion in 2013, when she shared the vault title with a score of 9.95.

Williams Wins Big Ten Beam Title
Sophomore Grace Williams won her first-career Big Ten event title, sharing the beam title with Nicole Artz of Michigan and Lindsay Mable of Minnesota with a score of 9.925. The beam title was Williams’ seventh beam title of the season and the ninth of her career.

Huskers Place Five on All-Championship Team
Five Huskers finished in the top three on individual events, earning spots on the Big Ten all-championship team. Hollie Blanske won the vault title with a score of 9.775. Danielle Breen finished second in the all-around with a score of 39.500 and tied for third on bars with a score of 9.90. Sienna Crouse, Jennie Laeng and Grace Williams also finished tied for third on bars with scores of 9.90. Williams also won balance beam with a score of 9.925. Blanske was a member of the Big Ten all-championship team in 2013 on vault and 2014 on beam, floor and in the all-around. Laeng was a member of the team on bars in 2015, while Breen, Crouse and Williams each picked up their first all-championship team award.

Scouting the Regional
Oklahoma is the top-ranked team in the nation with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 197.920. The Sooners are 23-1 on the season and won the Big 12 championship with a score of 198.050 two weeks ago. Seven OU gymnasts earned a total of 10 regular season NACGC/W All-America honors this season.

Arkansas is 9-10 on the season and tied for 13th in the nation with an RQS of 196.575. The Razorbacks finished sixth at the SEC Championships two weeks ago with a score of 196.500. Three Arkansas gymnasts were named All-SEC this season.

Iowa is 14-12-1 on the season and ranked 19th in the nation with an RQS of 196.330. The Hawkeyes finished tied for fifth at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago with a score of 195.875. Iowa defeated the Cornhuskers by a score of 196.650-196.350 on Feb. 6, before Nebraska returned the favor in the Big Ten Championships.

Kent State is 12-8 on the season with an RQS of 195.595, good for 30th in the nation. The Golden Flashes won the MAC regular season title, but finished fifth at the MAC Championships with a score of 195.325 two weeks ago.

Central Michigan is 15-6 on the season with an RQS of 195.440, good for 35th in the nation. The Chippewas finished fourth at the MAC Championships with a score of 195.600 two weeks ago.

Looking Ahead
Advancing from regional competition to the national championships will be a total of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors and event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at each regional will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier. The teams will be split into two semifinal sessions determined by NCAA Regional competition. The top three finishers from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six Finals. The NCAA Championships take place April 15-16 in Fort Worth, Texas.